| Del Baker | |
|---|---|
 Baker in 1918 as a member of the United States Navy during World War I | |
| Catcher | |
| Born:(1892-05-03)May 3, 1892 Sherwood, Oregon, U.S. | |
| Died: September 11, 1973(1973-09-11) (aged 81) Olmos Park, Texas, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 16, 1914, for the Detroit Tigers | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 30, 1916, for the Detroit Tigers | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .209 |
| Home runs | 0 |
| Runs batted in | 22 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Managerial record at Baseball Reference | |
| Teams | |
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| Career highlights and awards | |
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Delmer David Baker (May 3, 1892 – September 11, 1973) was anAmerican professionalbaseball player,coach, andmanager. During his time as a player, he spent three years (1914–1916) inMajor League Baseball (MLB) as a backupcatcher for theDetroit Tigers. As a manager, he led the1940 Tigers to theAmerican League pennant. He worked as a coach for 20 years for three American League teams, and was known as one of the premiersign stealers of his era.[1] His professional career encompassed half a century inorganized baseball.
Baker threw and batted right-handed, stood 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall and weighed 176 pounds (80 kg). Born inSherwood, Oregon, he was raised in neighboringWilsonville. After graduating from aPortland business college, he took a job in 1909 as a bookkeeper inWasco, Oregon, where he caught for the town team. In 1911, a scout signed him to a contract with theSpokane Indians of the Class A (equivalent to today'sTriple A)Pacific National League, predecessor to thePacific Coast League (PCL).[2] In 1914 he was promoted to the Detroit Tigers, and played in 172 games over three seasons as a back-up forOscar Stanage,batting .209 with 63hits, including ninedoubles and fourtriples. In 1917, the Tigers farmed him out to the PCL'sSan Francisco Seals. In 1918 he joined thewar effort, serving in theUS Navy, then returned to the PCL in 1920, this time with thePortland Beavers. After three seasons there, Baker spent a season with theMobile Bears of the Class ASouthern Association, then returned to the PCL for three more seasons with theOakland Oaks.[3]
After spending most of the 1928 season as player-manager of the Ogden Gunners in the Class CUtah-Idaho League, Baker moved to the Class ATexas League and caught for theFort Worth Panthers in 1929. In 1930 he was appointed player-manager of theBeaumont Exporters, a premier Texas League team with some of Detroit's top prospects, includingSchoolboy Rowe,Pete Fox, andHank Greenberg. The Exporters won 100 games in 1932, then swept theDallas Steers for the Texas League championship.[3] When Detroit managerBucky Harris promoted Rowe, Fox, and Greenberg to the major league level in 1933, he hired Baker to coach third base for the Tigers.
Baker served as interim manager after Harris resigned with two games to play in the 1933 season, then returned to coaching third base under Harris' replacement, player-managerMickey Cochrane. The Tigers won back-to-backAL pennants in 1934 and '35, and their first everWorld Series title in1935. Baker managed the team again in mid-1936, when Cochrane took a leave of absence due to what was described as a "nervous breakdown"; and again in mid-1937 after Cochrane suffered a fractured skull when he was hit by a pitch.[4]
In 1938, the Tigers compiled an early-season record of 47-51; on August 7, Baker replaced Cochrane as manager. He rallied Detroit to 37 wins in 56 games, enough to finish in thefirst division, but Detroit slipped to fifth in 1939.[3]
In 1940, theNew York Yankees, who had won the AL pennant and the World Series four years running, faltered, leaving the Tigers and theCleveland Indians to contend for the league title. With three games remaining in the season, on Friday, September 27, and the two teams tied, Baker chose obscure rookie pitcherFloyd Giebell to pitch for the pennant against futureHall of FamerBob Feller. Giebell threw a six-hitshutout.Rudy York hit a two-runhome run, and Detroit won the game, 2–0, clinched the AL title. But in theWorld Series, they lost in seven games to theCincinnati Reds despiteBobo Newsom's heroic pitching performances.[5]
WithWorld War II on the horizon, the1941 season was marked by the call to active military service of numerous baseball stars, including Greenberg. With their star power hitter out of the lineup, and Newsom ineffective, Detroit fell below .500 that season, and again in 1942. Baker was replaced after the 1942 season bySteve O'Neill.[6]
Baker returned to the coaching ranks with Cleveland (1943–44) and theBoston Red Sox (1945–48; 1953–60). From 1949–51, he served as skipper of theSacramento Solons and theSan Diego Padres of thePacific Coast League. In his final season, 1960, Baker managed one last time in the big leagues as Boston's interim pilot from June 8–12 betweenBilly Jurges' firing andPinky Higgins' rehiring. Under Baker, the last-place Red Sox won two games and lost five. He retired from the game after his 50th season in baseball, his last day overshadowed byTed Williams' last game as a player. Baker died at age 81 inOlmos Park, Texas.[1]
As a coach and manager, Baker was known for his proficiency at detecting the type of pitch an opposing pitcher was about to deliver and tipping off his team's batter with verbal signals. He carefully observed each pitcher's idiosyncrasies, looking, he said, "for all the little quirks, details and tell‐tales." He found that many pitchers concealed the ball poorly before delivery, allowing him to see their grip. Others telegraphed their curve balls by bending their wrists, or subtly altering their wind‐ups. "There are also facial telltales. I know pitchers who, when they throw a curve, bite the lip or stick out the tongue," he said.[1]
Tigers shortstopDick Bartell wrote that the Tigers were unusually successful against Feller in 1940 because Baker was reading all of Feller’s pitches.[7] Among Detroit hitters, it was said that Greenberg was the biggest beneficiary of Baker's tip-offs, although Greenberg himself said that "the importance of such information ... has been exaggerated."[3]
Another apparent beneficiary wasDon Larsen, who wrote in his memoir:
During the 1956 season, I struggled with my control from time to time. I had a so-so 7 and 5 record going into the last month of the season. In a ball game against the Red Sox in Boston, late in the season, I noticed that their third base coach, Del Baker, was watching me very closely. Del had a great reputation for being able to somehow steal pitching signs, and relay them to his hitters. After some thought, I came to the conclusion that with my full pitching delivery, he was gaining an advantage for the hitters by homing in on how I held the baseball before I threw it to the plate.[8]
In response, Larsen adopted a "no-windup" delivery, which he used in the1956 World Series to pitch the onlyperfect game in Series history, in Game Five.[9]
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| DET | 1933 | 2 | 2 | 0 | – | 5th in AL | – | – | – | – |
| DET | 1936 | 34 | 18 | 16 | .529 | interim | – | – | – | – |
| DET | 1937 | 64 | 41 | 23 | .641 | interim (two stints) | – | – | – | – |
| DET | 1938 | 56 | 37 | 19 | .661 | 4th in AL | – | – | – | – |
| DET | 1939 | 154 | 81 | 73 | .526 | 5th in AL | – | – | – | – |
| DET | 1940 | 154 | 90 | 64 | .584 | 1st in AL | 3 | 4 | .429 | LostWorld Series (CIN) |
| DET | 1941 | 154 | 75 | 79 | .487 | 4th in AL | – | – | – | – |
| DET | 1942 | 154 | 73 | 81 | .474 | 5th in AL | – | – | – | – |
| DET total | 772 | 417 | 355 | .540 | 3 | 4 | .429 | |||
| BOS | 1960 | 7 | 2 | 5 | .286 | interim | – | – | – | – |
| BOS total | 7 | 2 | 5 | .286 | 0 | 0 | – | |||
| Total[10] | 779 | 419 | 360 | .538 | 3 | 4 | .429 | |||
· Baseball Almanac| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Detroit Tigers manager 1933 1938–1942 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Boston Red Soxthird-base coach 1945–1948 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Boston Red Soxfirst-base coach 1953–1958 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Boston Red Sox manager 1960 | Succeeded by |
